Rabat: A Moroccan air force Mirage F1 crashed in the northeast of the country Monday after hitting a flock of birds but the pilot managed to eject safely, a report citing the armed forces said.

The plane, which was on a training mission, came down near the Sidi Slimane air base and the pilot "is safe and sound", the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces said in a statement quoted by the MAP news agency.

A "collision with a flock of large birds" as it was preparing to land caused the plane`s engine to die, the statement added.

There were no casualties from the crash which occurred in an uninhabited area.

The Mirage F1 is manufactured by French firm Dassault.

In May, a Moroccan pilot was killed when his F-16 crashed in Yemen during Saudi-led coalition operations against Houthi rebels.